Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, and they are with regard to the future development of mines in the territory, and in particular in the North Slave region.
Mr. Speaker, we know that energy is, of course, one of the largest costs to running a mine. Hard rock mines, in particular, use nearly twice the energy that diamond mines do, but at the same time we are trying to attract global investment to come here. We know that other jurisdictions around the country have power and energy at a fraction of the cost of what we can charge here.
The Yellowknife area, for example, is 37 cents a kilowatt hour. Other regions, it is 8 cents a kilowatt hour. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the Minister going to do to make the cost of power in the NWT competitive in the world marketplace? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we are interested in these types of developments. We do realize that the cost of power is quite high in the Northwest Territories, particularly in comparison with some other jurisdictions, such as Quebec and Manitoba. We are in discussions with mining companies because we do hope that we will have additional customers, because the only way really of keeping prices down is to find new customers, either here in the Northwest Territories or by exporting power to the south. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate what the Minister has to say in that the territorial government certainly does recognize mining as a large part and a central part of our economy. Frankly, mines currently have no option but to rely on carbon fuels for their operations. Unfortunately, they also happen to be some of our largest emitters, followed by the transportation industry, which also is primarily because they, too, support the mines.
The GNWT, we are proposing that we need to significantly reduce our carbon emissions. I would like to ask the Minister: how does the Power Corporation intend to help the Government of the Northwest Territories meet our greenhouse gas targets while promoting mining?
The Member opposite is quite correct. The mining companies are some of our largest emitters. In the future, it would seem to me likely that the only way to radically reduce those levels of emission would be by supplying a hydro power. We would have to look and we would be prepared to look at hydro expansion, whether Taltson or otherwise.
I appreciate that reply. That all leads me into my last question: does the Minister see any realistic options other than the large-scale hydro dams or transmitting power from the Canadian grid to provide reliable environmental sustainability? Does the Minister see, other than big mega projects, what are the other alternatives that mines have in order to produce affordable energy?
As I mentioned, the Power Corporation has been in discussion with several mining companies, looking at other alternatives such as LNG. However, as I said, long-term, it seems to me that the most efficacious way of reducing the greenhouse emissions would likely be by hydro expansion, whether a large project like Taltson or a smaller expansion of other hydro projects.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your indulgence for one more question. I appreciate that I said the last question was my last question, but in fact I would like to know if the Minister is having any discussions around the idea of nuclear, in particular, molten-salt reactors and mini nuclear reactors, and is that a power option that the Minister is considering? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think we would be prepared to look at any options, though nuclear wouldn't seem to be the top of the list. It is a controversial form of supplying power. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
